php curl to get xml feed does not return all the data

Question

So I have this private function:

private function curl_get($url)
{
    // Initiate the curl session
    $ch = curl_init();

    // Set the URL
    curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, $url);

    // Removes the headers from the output
    curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HEADER, 0);

    // Return the output instead of displaying it directly
    curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, 1);

    curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_TIMEOUT, 60);
    @curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION, 1);

    // Execute the curl session
    $output = curl_exec($ch);

    // Close the curl session
    curl_close($ch);

    return $output;
}

And I use if for example with this link: http://www.metacafe.com/api/item/cb-xuFyGC0jJqPfhMoFnewj4Da_ZhHCz4L2/

now the problem is that doesn't return all the data, all I get is this:

[data] => SimpleXMLElement Object
        (
            [@attributes] => Array
                (
                    [version] => 2.0
                    [source] => Metacafe
                )

            [title] => Metacafe
            [channel] => SimpleXMLElement Object
                (
                    [title] => SimpleXMLElement Object
                        (
                        )

                    [link] => http://www.metacafe.com/watch/cb-GKeDVFevZxk_rNri_uz_K01azz3uV_ZZ/
                    [image] => SimpleXMLElement Object
                        (
                            [url] => http://s.mcstatic.com/Images/MCLogo4RSS.jpg
                            [link] => http://www.metacafe.com
                            [title] => Metacafe
                            [height] => 65
                            [width] => 229
                        )

                    [description] => SimpleXMLElement Object
                        (
                        )

                    [item] => SimpleXMLElement Object
                        (
                            [id] => cb-GKeDVFevZxk_rNri_uz_K01azz3uV_ZZ
                            [author] => CBS
                            [title] => Romney Concedes South Carolina Primary
                            [link] => http://www.metacafe.com/watch/cb-GKeDVFevZxk_rNri_uz_K01azz3uV_ZZ/romney_concedes_south_carolina_primary/
                            [rank] => 4.00
                            [category] => News & Events
                            [description] => SimpleXMLElement Object
                                (
                                )

                            [guid] => http://www.metacafe.com/watch/cb-GKeDVFevZxk_rNri_uz_K01azz3uV_ZZ/romney_concedes_south_carolina_primary/
                            [pubDate] => 18 hours ago +0000
                        )

                )

        )

Why isn't it returning the description and the tags, which are pretty important to me?

Alex · Accepted Answer · 2012-01-22 22:00:12Z

2

It's not due to curl but how SimpleXml handles CDATA:

$xml = simplexml_load_string($stringFromCurl, 'SimpleXMLElement', LIBXML_NOCDATA);

will interpret the CDATA as text nodes, see the XML constants on PNP.net

edited Jan 22, 2012 at 22:00

Alex

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answered Jan 22, 2012 at 20:44

konsolenfreddy

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2 Comments

Alex Over a year ago

oh, didn't know that... I am new to XML and just learned something new thanks to you and also got the solution.

Alex Over a year ago

I guess now all I have to do is preg_match to separate the data (tags, description, submitted by) in [description], right?

salathe · Accepted Answer · 2012-01-22 22:29:40Z

1

SimpleXML does have "all the data", it just is not visible via print_r().

echo $your_simplexml_object->channel->item->description;

answered Jan 22, 2012 at 22:29

salathe

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4 Comments

salathe Over a year ago

No, it only worked around a "problem". All of the data is sitting right there, just not being shown by print_r() (without LIBXML_NOCDATA).

Alex Over a year ago

oh I get it, but this kinda makes my problem more difficult because now in order to get only the data I need I have to write some massive preg_match when with LIBXML_NOCDATA through DOMDocument I can make it more accessible the data needed

salathe Over a year ago

Your use of preg_match(), LIBXML_NOCDATA or DOMDocument have no bearing on the fact that you were incorrect in thinking that the SimpleXML object didn't have the description contents.

Alex Over a year ago

yes indeed @salathe, yes indeed. Thank you very much for teaching me one more new thing today.

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